Detrital apatite fission track constraints on Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China： Evidence from Cenozoic strata in Lulehe section, Northern Qaidam Basin

The Northern Qaidam Basin is located at the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It contains very thick Cenozoic terrestrial clastic sediments, which records the formation of the northern Qaidam Basin due to compressional deformation during the Indo-Asian collision. In this paper, we used detrital apatite fission-track thermochronology, including 4 sandstones and 2 conglomerates samples from the Lulehe section, to reveal the Cenozoic evolution of the northern Qaidam Basin. Fission-track dating indicated the source region of the Lulehe section has experiencedimportant cooling and uplifting in the Late Cretaceous(at ~85.1 Ma and ~65 Ma) and the Eocene(~52 Ma), respectively. The AFT age distribution on the section suggested that the provenance of Lulehe section sediments were mainly derived from the south Qilian Shan(Qilian Mountains) and Altun Shan(Altun Mountains), and two significantly provenance changes may occur at 43.4-46.1 Ma and ~37.8 Ma, respectively. The results may have strong constrains on the Cenozoic deformation and tectonic evolution of the northern Qaidam Basin and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Apatite fission-track study on the thermo-tectonic history of the Huainan Coalfield in Anhui Province, China: Tectonic implications for the potential coalbed methane resource

Coalbed methane (CBM) is a kind of burgeoning and enormously potential clean energy resource, and the temperature of the thermogenic CBM generation is close to that of the partial annealing zone (PAZ) of apatite fission tracks (AFT). In this study the thermo-tectonic history of the Huainan Coalfield and the potential CBM resource were studied and discussed by using the AFT method. The AFT data indicate that the apparent ages of AFT vary from 45.5 to 199.1 Ma. They are younger than the ages of their host strata (255–1800 Ma) except one sample, and the single-grain ages of AFT can be classified as a single age group for each sample. In combination with the geological setting, modeling results of the AFT ages, average lengths, and the thermal history based on the AFT single-grain ages and length distributions, some preliminary conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) at least three thermo-tectonic events (in the periods of ～240, 140 and 80 Ma, respectively) have occurred in the study area since the Late Paleozoic. The occurrence of both the first (during 240–220 Ma) and second (during 160–120 Ma) thermo-tectonic events is possibly responsible for the establishment of the patterns of gas generation and reservoir formation. The second thermo-tectonic event also led to slight accumulation of hydrocarbons and generation of thermogenic gas; (2) the AFT ages of most coal-bearing strata lie between 50 and 70 Ma. They should represent the cooling ages and the ages of inferred uplift and denudation, as well as the possible CBM release history. Therefore, the maximum burial depth of coal-bearing strata and the denudation thickness of the overlying strata are over 3000 and 2000 m in the Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene series, respectively; and (3) subsequently, a spot of secondary biogenic and scarcely thermogenic gas generation occurred due to negligible sedimentation during the Neogene and Quaternary periods. Thus, it can be presumed that subsequent tectonism would destroy the CBM reservoir after its formation in the Huainan Coalfield, especially in its structural development region. These AFT data may be helpful for a better understanding of the thermo-tectonic history of the Huainan Coalfield, as well as of CBM generation, storage and release in the Huainan Coalfield.

New progresses on geothermal history of Turpan-Hami Basin,Xinjiang,China

A comprehensive study on geothermal history of the Turpan-HamiBasin by vitrinite reflectance, fluid inclusion geothermometry, apatite fission track and 40Ar-39Ar dating displays that the main effects influencing geotemperature distribution are burial depth of the basement, heat flow, magmatic activities, as well as tectonic movement, having a rugulation to be higher in the east and north, lower in the west and south, as well as higher in the past and lower at the present. The heat of the mantle source and the Indo-China tectonic thermal event have extremely influenced matura-tion of source rocks of the upper Lower Permian and the Middle and Upper Triassic in the lndo-China epoch. While, the geothermal gradient and the weak tectonic geothermal event of the Early Yanshan Movement provided necessary heat for the maturation of source rock in coal-bearing strata of the Middle and Lower Jurassic.